Method and apparatus for measuring the voltage of a power source

ABSTRACT

Various concepts and techniques are disclosed for measuring the voltage of a power source. An apparatus includes a voltage metering circuit and a transformer having a first winding coupled to the voltage metering circuit and a second winding for coupling to a power source.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates generally to the electrical arts, andmore particularly, to concepts and techniques for measuring the voltageof a power source.

2. Background

Determining the voltage of a single cell battery is a straightforwardprocedure. A conventional voltmeter is simply placed across theterminals of the cell and the voltage measured. This procedure, however,poses various technological challenges when measuring the cell voltagesof a multiple cell battery. In particular, the voltmeter must beswitched between the cells to determine the voltage of each cell.Moreover, the voltmeter, which is generally composed of relatively lowvoltage breakdown semiconductor based electronic components, mustwithstand the voltage measured at each cell in the battery with respectto ground. This voltage, which is often referred to as “common modevoltage,” can reach hundreds of volts in large series connected batterystacks, such as those found in automobiles and other high voltageapplications. These high voltage applications are beyond the voltagebreakdown capabilities of most semiconductor components. Semiconductorbased switches suffer from similar problems due to voltage breakdownlimitations. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for isolatedmeasurement techniques for batteries and other power sources.

SUMMARY

One aspect of an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes avoltage metering circuit, and a transformer having a first windingcoupled to the voltage metering circuit and a second winding forcoupling to a power source.

Another aspect of an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes avoltage metering circuit, and a plurality of transformers, each of thetransformers having a first winding coupled to the voltage meteringcircuit and a second winding for coupling to a different battery cell ofa multiple cell battery.

A further aspect of an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes atransformer having a first winding and second winding, the secondwinding being configured for coupling to a power source, and means,coupled to the first winding of the transformer, for measuring thevoltage of the power source.

Yet another aspect of an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includesa plurality of transformers, each of the transformers having first andsecond windings, the second winding in each of the transformer beingconfigured for coupling to a different battery cell in a multiple cellbattery, and means, coupled to the first winding in each of thetransformers, for measuring the voltage of the battery cells.

An aspect of a method is disclosed for measuring the voltage of a powersource using a transformer having first and second windings, the secondwinding being coupled to the power source. The method includes excitingthe first winding, and sampling the voltage of the first winding whenexcited.

Another aspect of a method is disclosed for measuring battery cellvoltages of a multiple cell battery using a plurality of transformers,each of the transformers having first and second windings, each of thesecond windings being configured for coupling to a different one of thebattery cells. The method includes exciting the first winding in each ofthe transformers, and sampling the voltage of the battery cells throughthe excited first windings of the transformers.

An aspect of computer-readable media is disclosed. The computer-readablemedia contains instructions for a processor. The instructions includeprogram code to measure a reference voltage through a referencetransformer, and program code to use the reference voltage to measurethe voltage of a power source through a transformer.

Another aspect of computer-readable media is disclosed. Thecomputer-readable media contains instructions for a processor. Theprocessor is configured to measure battery cell voltages of a multiplecell battery using a plurality of transformers, each of the transformersbeing coupling to a different one of the battery cells. The instructionsinclude program code to measure a reference voltage through a referencetransformer, and program code to use the reference voltage to measurethe voltage of the battery cells through the transformers.

It is understood that other embodiments of the present invention willbecome readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description, wherein it is shown and described only variousembodiments of the invention by way of illustration. As will berealized, the invention is capable of other and different embodimentsand its several details are capable of modification in various otherrespects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to beregarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an apparatusfor measuring the voltage of a power source;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a voltagemetering circuit;

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram illustrating various waveforms generated in avoltage metering circuit;

FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of a voltage metering circuit;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an apparatusfor measuring the voltage of each cell in a multiple cell battery; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of anapparatus for measuring the voltage of each cell in multiple cellbattery.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention and is not intended to represent the only embodimentsin which the present invention can be practiced. The term “exemplary”used throughout this description means “serving as an example, instance,or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferredor advantageous over other embodiments. The detailed descriptionincludes specific details for the purpose of providing a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details. In some instances, well-known structuresand devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuringthe concepts of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an apparatusfor measuring the voltage of a power source, such as a single cellbattery, a multiple cell battery, a cell in a multiple cell battery, orsome other suitable power source. The apparatus 102 includes a voltagemetering circuit 104 and a transformer 106, which together provide ameans measuring the voltage of a power source independently of highcommon mode voltages. In the embodiment of the apparatus shown in FIG.1, the primary winding of the transformer 106 is coupled to the voltagemetering circuit 104 and the secondary winding of the transformer 106 iscoupled to a battery cell 110 under test. The term “coupled” as usedthroughout this disclosure means a direct connection, or whereappropriate, an indirect connection (e.g., through intervening orintermediary devices or other means). An example of an indirectconnection is shown in FIG. 1, where the secondary winding of thetransformer 106 is coupled to the battery cell 110 through a diode 108to prevent the cell 110 from short circuiting.

The voltage metering circuit 104 measures the voltage V_(B) of thebattery cell 110 by exciting the transformer 106 and sampling thevoltage across the primary winding. This voltage is clamped by the diodevoltage V_(D) and the battery cell voltage V_(B), which shunt thesecondary winding of the transformer 106. The diode 108 and the lossesin the transformer 106 introduce predictable errors that can besubtracted from the sampled voltage to produce an accurate measurementof the battery cell voltage V_(B) at the output of the voltage meteringcircuit 104. The use of the transformer 106 galvanically isolates thebattery cell 110 from the voltage metering circuit 104. This breaks thecommon ground connection and eliminates the common mode voltages. As aresult, conventional low voltage techniques and semiconductors can beused to implement the voltage metering circuit 104.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a voltagemetering circuit. The voltage metering circuit 104 includes a pulsegenerator 202 coupled to the primary winding of the transformer 106. Thepulse generator 202 is used to excite the transformer 106 through aresistor 203. The pulse generator 202 also triggers a delayed pulsegenerator 204. The delayed pulse generator 204 enables a samplingvoltmeter 206 to sample the voltage across the primary winding of thetransformer 106. A correction circuit 208 removes the residual errorterms (i.e., the diode 108 voltage and the transformer losses) from thesampled voltage to produce an output representing the battery cellvoltage V_(B).

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram illustrating various waveforms generated inthe voltage metering circuit 104. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the pulsegenerator 202 is used to generate a pulse 302 to excite the transformer106. When the transformer 106 is excited, a voltage waveform 304 appearsacross the primary winding, which as explained above, is clamped by thebattery cell voltage V_(B) and the diode voltage V_(D). For clarity ofpresentation, the rise time, overshoot, voltage droop, and pulsedistortion of the waveform across the primary winding of the transformerare not shown. The delayed pulse 306 generated by the delayed pulsegenerator 206 is delayed from the rising edge of the pulse 302 generatedby the pulse generator 202 by t_(d). The delay t_(d) is set to ensurethat voltage across the primary winding of the transformer is clampedbefore it is sampled by the sampling voltmeter 208. The required delayt_(d) is primarily a function of output impedance of the pulse generator202, the resistor 203, and the characteristics of the transformer 106.The pulse width t_(pw) of the delayed pulse 306 is set to ensure thatthe sampling voltmeter 208 has sufficient time to sample the voltage,which will be discussed further below.

FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of a voltage metering circuit. The transformer 106 is excitedby a pulse generator 202 through a low impedance driver (not shown). Thedriver may be internal or external to the pulse generator 202. Anexternal driver can be implemented, by way of example, with a parallelarrangement of 74HC04 inverters or other suitable devices. In oneembodiment of the voltage metering circuit 104, the pulse generateexcites the transformer 106 with a 5 volt, 10 μs pulse at a 500 Hzrepetition rate through a 10 KΩ resistor 203, but other voltages,waveforms, pulse widths, repetition rates, and resistive values may beused in other embodiments.

The delayed pulse generator 206 may be implemented with a dualretriggerable monostable multivibrator, such as a 74HC123, or othersuitable device. The 74HC123 is a high speed CMOS device with dualmultivibrators integrated into a single package. When implemented usinga 74HC123, a first stage multivibrator 402 is used to set the delayt_(d). More specifically, the first stage multivibrator 402, which istriggered by the pulse generator 202, generates a pulse having a widthestablished by an external resistor and capacitor pair (not shown). Thetrailing edge of the pulse generated by the first stage multivibrator402 is used to trigger a second stage multivibrator 404. The secondstage multivibrator 404 generates a pulse having a width established byanother external resistor capacitor pair. The pulse output from thesecond stage multivibrator 404 is used to enable the sampling voltmeter206.

The sampling voltmeter 208 is shown with a switch 406, a capacitor 408,and a buffer 412. In this embodiment, the delayed pulse from the delayedpulse generator 204 closes the switch 406, allowing the capacitor 408 tocharge through a resistor 410 towards the clamped voltage across theprimary winding of the transformer 106. The pulse width t_(pw) of thedelayed pulse 306 (see FIG. 3) must be sufficient to allow the capacitor408 to fully charge to the clamped voltage before the switch 406 isopened. The required pulse width t_(pw) is primarily a function of thetime constant established by the resistor 410 and capacitor 408. In oneembodiment of the voltage metering circuit 104, a 0.001 F capacitor 408is driven through a 10 KΩ resistor 410 when a CD4016 CMOS analog switchis closed by the delayed pulse generator 204. A transistor 414 may beused to pull down the switch input to ground just before the trailingedge of the pulse 302 (see FIG. 3) from the pulse generator 202. Thisprevents the negative excursions at the primary winding of thetransformer 106 from influencing the switch 406. The buffer 412, whichmay be implemented with a LTC6240 unity gain CMOS operational amplifieror other suitable device, is used to buffer the capacitor voltage andprovide it to the correction circuit 208.

The correction circuit 220 includes an amplifier 416, such as a LT1789or other suitable device. The amplifier 416, operating at a gain closeto unity, subtracts the diode voltage V_(D) and the losses from thetransformer 106 to produce an output representing the battery cellvoltage V_(B). A diode 418 in the input circuitry is use to subtract theerror introduced by the diode 106 between the secondary winding of thetransformer 106 and the battery cell 110. Preferably, the diodes arematched so they contribute little error and track with temperature. Thismay be achieved, by way of example, using matching 2N3904 transistorsconfigured as diodes. The transformer losses can be represented by anoffset component and a gain component. Input resistors 420, 422compensate for the offset component and a feedback resistor 424compensates for the gain component. The values of the resistors willdepend on the characteristics of the transformer 106 as well as otherparameters of the voltage metering circuit 104. In one embodiment of thevoltage metering circuit 104, the correction circuit 208 is implementedwith 22 KΩ and 511Ωinput resistors 420, 422, and a 6.34 MΩ feedbackresistor 424, however, the resistive values used in any specificapplication may be different and the selection of these values are wellwithin the capabilities of one skilled in the art.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an apparatusfor measuring the voltage of each cell in a multiple cell battery. Inthis embodiment, a separate transformer 106 _(x) is used to measure thevoltage V_(BX) of each battery cell 110 _(x), but fewer transformers maybe used in a time-shared fashion in other embodiments. Each transformer106 _(x) includes a primary winding coupled between the voltage meteringcircuit 104 and ground through a switch 502 _(x), and a secondarywinding coupled to a battery cell 110 _(x) through a diode 108 _(x). Theswitch 502 _(x) may be positioned between the primary winding and groundas shown in FIG. 5, or alternatively, located elsewhere. By way ofexample, the switch 502 _(x) may be placed in the voltage meteringcircuit 104, between the voltage metering circuit 104 and the primarywinding, or in the secondary winding circuit. The switches 502 _(x) maybe FET switches, or any other suitable switches.

The voltage metering device 104 can measure the voltage V_(B) of anybattery cell 110 _(x) by enabling the corresponding transformer 106 _(x)and disabling the others. By way of example, the voltage metering device104 can measure the voltage V_(B1) of the first battery cell 110 ₁ byapplying the appropriate gate voltages to turn the first FET switch 502₁ ON and the remaining FET switches 502 ₂-502 _(N) OFF. With this switchconfiguration, a pulse from the voltage metering circuit 104 will excitethe first transformer 106 ₁, causing a voltage to build up across theprimary winding until it is clamped by the diode voltage V_(D1) and thebattery cell voltage V_(B1). The voltage metering circuit 104 samplesthe voltage across the primary winding of the first transformer andremoves the residual error to arrive at the battery cell voltage V_(B1)for the first cell 110 ₁. This process may be repeated for each batterycell, or any combination of battery cells.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of anapparatus for measuring the voltages of cells in multiple cell battery.In this embodiment, the voltage measurements are made using an automaticcalibration technique. This technique may be implemented with aprocessor 602 that selects the transformers 106 _(x) corresponding tothe battery cells 110 _(x) of interest and controls the pulse generator202 to excite the selected transformers 106 _(x). An analog-to-digital(A/D) 604 converter is used to provide to the processor 602 with adigital representation of the sampled voltage across the primary windingof the selected transformer 106 _(x).

Two additional transformers 106 _(FS), 106 _(Z) are used forcalibration. The first transformer 106 _(FS) has a secondary windingcoupled through a diode 108 _(FS) to a full-scale voltage reference 610_(FS) and the second transformer 106 _(Z) has a shorted secondarywinding through a diode 108 _(Z) to provide a zero reference. In thisexample, the full-scale voltage reference 610 _(FS) represent themaximum battery cell voltage and zero reference represents the minimumbattery cell voltage. In other embodiments, a minimum battery cellvoltage may be calibrated with a low-scale voltage reference across thesecondary winding of the transformer 106 _(Z). The voltage full-scalevoltage reference 610 _(FS) may be implemented with zener diode asshown, or by any other suitable means.

In operation, the processor 602 is calibrated by measuring and recordingthe full-scale voltage reference 606 _(FS) and the zero reference. Thefull-scale voltage reference 606 _(FS) is measured by enabling thecorresponding transformer 106 _(FS) via a switch 502 _(FS) andtriggering the pulse generator 202 to excite the transformer 106 _(FS)for the full-scale voltage reference. The voltage across the primarywinding is converted to a digital value by the A/D converter 604 andstored. The processor 602 repeats this process for the zero referenceenabling the appropriate transformer 106 _(Z) through a switch 502 _(Z),triggering the pulse generator 202 to excite the transformer 106 _(Z)for the zero reference and storing the digital value representing thevoltage measured across the primary winding.

Once the full-scale voltage reference and zero reference have beenrecorded, the processor 602 can measure the voltage V_(Bx) of anybattery cell 110 _(x) through a interpolation process, or by some othersuitable mathematical function. As an example, the processor 602 canmeasure the voltage V_(B1) of the first battery cell 110 ₁ by applyingthe appropriate gate voltages to turn the first FET switch 502 ₁ ON andthe remaining FET switches OFF. With this switch configuration, a pulsefrom the voltage metering circuit 104 will excite the first transformer1061, causing a voltage to build up across the primary winding until itis clamped by the diode voltage V_(D1) and the battery cell voltageV_(B1). The voltage across the primary winding of the first transformer106 ₁ is converted to a digital value by the A/D converter 604 andprovided to the processor 602. The processor 602 then uses thefull-scale voltage reference and the zero reference to interpolate theresult based on the digital value for the voltage measured across theprimary winding of the first transformer 106 ₁. This process may berepeated for each battery cell, or any combination of battery cells.

The process just described assumes that the diodes 108 _(x) in thesecondary windings of the transformers 106 _(x) are matched. The processmay be modified to account for any residual error introduced byunmatched diodes 108 _(x). The modified process involves apre-calibration technique whereby a known voltage reference is placedacross the secondary winding of each transformer 106 ₁-106 _(N) thatwill be used to measure the voltage V_(Bx) of a battery cell. Theprocessor 602 then excites the primary windings of each transformer 106₁-106 _(N) and records a corresponding digital value from the A/Dconverter 604 to complete the pre-calibration process.

Once the pre-calibration process is complete, the secondary windings foreach transformer 106 ₁-106 _(N) is coupled to the individual cells of abattery. Using an interpolation process, or some other suitablemathematical function, the processor 602 can then measure the voltageV_(Bx) of any batter cell 110 _(x) using the digital value from the A/Dconverter 604 for the voltage across excited primary winding of thetransformer 106 _(x) coupled to the battery cell 110 _(x) under test,the measured full-scale voltage and zero reference, and thepre-calibration data (i.e., the known voltage reference and the measuredvoltage).

The processor 602 has been described herein in terms of itsfunctionality. These functions may be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or anycombination thereof. In one non-limiting example, the processor 602 maybe implemented with a general-purpose or specific-application processor,and may also include computer-readable media with program code orinstructions that, when executed, performs some or all of the processorfunctions described herein. The computer-readable media may be memory ora hierarchy of memories including general register files, caches,volatile memory, and/or non-volatile memory. The program code orinstructions may also be stored on computer-readable media external tothe processor 602 including any medium that is used to transfer programcode or instructions to the processor 602. By way of example,computer-readable media includes a connection to the processor from awebsite, server, or other remote source, or a carrier wave that encodesdata.

A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor. Aspecific-application processor may be an embedded processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic component,discrete gate or transistor logic, or discrete hardware components. Theprocessor 602 may also be implemented as a combination of processingentities (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a pluralityof microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with aDSP core, or any other such configuration).

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various embodiments described herein. Variousmodifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other embodiments. Thus, the claims are not intended to belimited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the fullscope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to anelement in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one”unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structuraland functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodimentsdescribed throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to beknown to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporatedherein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims.Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to thepublic regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited inthe claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, theelement is recited using the phrase “step for.”

1. An apparatus, comprising: a voltage metering circuit; and atransformer having a first winding coupled to the voltage meteringcircuit and a second winding for coupling to a power source.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the voltage metering circuit comprises asampling voltmeter coupled to the first winding.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the voltage metering circuit further comprises a pulsegenerator coupled to the first winding.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the voltage metering circuit comprises a pulse generatorconfigured to excite the transformer, and a sampling voltmeterconfigured to sample the voltage across the first winding.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4 wherein the voltage metering circuit furthercomprises a delayed pulse generator configured to enable the samplingvoltmeter when the transformer is excited.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4wherein the voltage metering circuit further comprises a correctioncircuit configured to correct the sampled voltage for residual error. 7.The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the residual error includes lossesintroduced by the transformer.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6 furthercomprising a diode coupled to the second winding, and wherein theresidual error includes error introduced by the diode.
 9. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the second winding is configured to be coupled to abattery cell of a multiple cell battery.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9further comprising a second transformer having first winding coupled tothe voltage metering circuit and a second winding for coupling to adifferent battery cell of the multiple cell battery.
 11. The apparatusof claim 1 further comprising a reference transformer having a firstwinding coupled to the voltage metering device and a second windingcoupled to a voltage reference.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 whereinthe voltage metering circuit comprises a processor configured to measurea reference voltage through the reference transformer and use thereference voltage to measure the voltage of the power source through thetransformer.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the processor isfurther configured to use pre-calibration data to measure the voltage ofthe power source through the transformer.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13further comprising a diode coupled to the second winding, and whereinthe pre-calibration data is used to remove any residual error introducedby the diode in the measured voltage.
 15. An apparatus, comprising: avoltage metering circuit; and a plurality of transformers, each of thetransformers having a first winding coupled to the voltage meteringcircuit and a second winding for coupling to a different battery cell ofa multiple cell battery.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein thevoltage metering circuit comprises a sampling voltmeter coupled to thefirst winding in each of the transformers.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15wherein the voltage metering circuit further comprises a pulse generatorcoupled to the first winding in each of the transformers.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 15 wherein the voltage metering circuit comprises apulse generator configured to excite the each of the transformers, and asampling voltmeter configured to sample the voltage across the firstwindings in each of the transformers.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18wherein the voltage metering circuit further comprises a delayed pulsegenerator configured to enable the sampling voltmeter to sample thevoltage across the first winding in each of the transformers whenexcited.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the voltage meteringcircuit further comprises a correction circuit configured to correct thesampled voltage across the first winding in each of the transformers forresidual error.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the residual errorincludes losses introduced by each of the transformers.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 18 further comprising a plurality of diodes, each ofthe diodes being coupled to the second winding in a different one of thetransformers, and wherein the residual error includes error introducedby each of the diodes.
 23. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprisinga reference transformer having a first winding coupled to the voltagemetering device and a second winding coupled to a voltage reference. 24.The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the voltage metering circuit furthercomprises a processor configured to measure a reference voltage throughthe reference transformer and use the reference voltage to measure thevoltages of the battery cells through the transformers.
 25. Theapparatus of claim 24 wherein the processor is further configured to usepre-calibration data to measure the voltages of the battery cellsthrough the transformers.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25 furthercomprising a plurality of diodes, each of the diodes being coupled tothe second winding in a different one of the transformers, and whereinthe pre-calibration data is used to remove any residual error introducedby each of the diodes in the measured voltages.
 27. An apparatus,comprising: a transformer having a first winding and second winding, thesecond winding being configured for coupling to a power source; andmeans, coupled to the first winding of the transformer, for measuringthe voltage of the power source.
 28. The apparatus of claim 27 whereinthe means for measuring the voltage of the power source comprises meansfor exciting the first winding of the transformer and means for samplingthe voltage across the excited first winding.
 29. The apparatus of claim28 wherein the means for measuring the voltage of the power sourcecomprises means for correcting the sampled voltage for residual error.30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the residual error includes lossesintroduced by the transformer.
 31. The apparatus of claim 29 furthercomprising a diode coupled to the second winding, and wherein theresidual error includes error introduced by the diode.
 32. The apparatusof claim 27 further comprising a reference transformer having a firstwinding and a second winding coupled to a voltage reference, and means,coupled to the first winding of the reference transformer, for measuringa reference voltage, wherein the means for measuring the voltage of thepower source is configured to use the reference voltage to measure thevoltage of the power source through the transformer.
 33. An apparatus,comprising: a plurality of transformers, each of the transformers havingfirst and second windings, the second winding in each of the transformerbeing configured for coupling to a different battery cell in a multiplecell battery; and means, coupled to the first winding in each of thetransformers, for measuring the voltage of the battery cells.
 34. Theapparatus of claim 33 further comprising a reference transformer havinga first winding and a second winding coupled to a voltage reference, andmeans, coupled to the first winding in the reference transformer, formeasuring a reference voltage, wherein the means for measuring thevoltage of the battery cells is configured to use the reference voltageto measure the battery cell voltages through the transformers.
 35. Amethod of measuring the voltage of a power source using a transformerhaving first and second windings, the second winding being coupled tothe power source, the method comprising: exciting the first winding; andsampling the voltage of the first winding when excited.
 36. The methodof claim 35 wherein the first winding is excited with a pulse.
 37. Themethod of claim 35 further comprising correcting the sampled voltage forresidual error.
 38. The method of claim 37 wherein the residual errorincludes losses introduced by transformer.
 39. The method of claim 37wherein a diode is coupled to the second winding, and wherein theresidual error includes error introduced by the diode.
 40. The method ofclaim 35 further comprising measuring a reference voltage through areference transformer, and using the reference voltage to measure thevoltage of the power source through the transformer.
 41. The method ofclaim 40 further comprising using pre-calibration data to measure thevoltage of the power source through the transformer.
 42. A method ofmeasuring battery cell voltages of a multiple cell battery using aplurality of transformers, each of the transformers having first andsecond windings, each of the second windings being configured forcoupling to a different one of the battery cells, the method,comprising: exciting the first winding in each of the transformers; andsampling the voltage of the battery cells through the excited firstwindings of the transformers.
 43. The method of claim 42 furthercomprising measuring a reference voltage through a referencetransformer, and using the reference voltage to measure the battery cellvoltages through the transformers.
 44. Computer-readable mediacontaining instructions for a processor, the instructions comprising:program code to measure a reference voltage through a referencetransformer; program code to use the reference voltage to measure thevoltage of a power source through a transformer.
 45. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 44 wherein the transformer comprisesfirst and second windings, and wherein the program code to measure thevoltage of a power source includes code to excite the transformer withthe second winding of the transformer coupled to the power source, andcode to sample the voltage of the first winding when excited.
 46. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 44 wherein the reference transformercomprises first and second windings, and wherein the program code tomeasure the reference voltage includes code to excite the referencetransformer with the second winding of the reference transformer coupledto the voltage reference, and code to sample the voltage of the firstwinding when the transformer is excited.
 47. The computer-readable mediaof claim 46 wherein the instructions further comprise program code touse pre-calibration data to measure the voltage of the power sourcethrough the transformer.
 48. The computer-readable media of claim 47wherein the pre-calibration data is used to remove any residual errorintroduced by a diode coupled to the transformer.
 49. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 44 wherein the instructions furthercomprise program code to correct the sampled voltage for residual error.50. Computer-readable media containing instructions for a processor, theprocessor being configured to measure battery cell voltages of amultiple cell battery using a plurality of transformers, each of thetransformers being coupling to a different one of the battery cells, theinstructions comprising: program code to measure a reference voltagethrough a reference transformer; program code to use the referencevoltage to measure the voltage of the battery cells through thetransformers.
 51. The computer-readable media of claim 50 wherein eachof the transformers include first and second windings, and wherein theprogram code to measure the voltage of the battery cells includes codeto excite the transformers with the second winding of the transformercoupled to different battery cells, and code to sample the voltage ofthe first winding of each of the transformers when excited.
 52. Thecomputer-readable media of claim 50 wherein the reference transformerincludes first and second windings, and wherein the program code tomeasure the reference voltage includes code to excite the referencetransformer with the second winding of the reference transformer coupledto a voltage reference, and code to sample the voltage of the firstwinding when the reference is excited.
 53. The computer-readable mediaof claim 50 wherein the instructions further comprise program code topre-calibration data to measure the voltage of the battery cells throughthe transformers.
 54. The computer-readable media of claim 53 whereinthe pre-calibration data is used to remove any residual error introducedby one or more diodes, each of the one or more diodes being coupled to adifferent one of the transformers.
 54. The computer-readable media ofclaim 50 wherein the instructions further comprise program code tocorrect the sampled voltage for residual error.